Boy Scouts Recognized For Rescuing Friend From Hornet Attack

In late May, six members of Boy Scout troops 870 and 129 were recognized by the Boy Scouts Baltimore Area Council with Meritorious Action Awards for saving one of their own last summer.

The boys were at Clayton Lake in Virginia on July 14, 2017 — the last day of a weeklong summer camp.

“They’ve all been friends and going to summer camp for years together,” said Shawn Rieder, the leader of the combined troop for the camp. “Some of them were turning 18, so this was the last year they could do this together.”

Conlan Birdsall had just turned 18 and was attending as an assistant scoutmaster.

Due to the risk of thunderstorms, the counselors didn't allow the final block of classes using non-motorized water vehicles to leave the cove. So the combined troop spent the time sitting on their paddleboards and talking.

One of the scouts, Patrick Westphal, drifted over and bumped his head on a basketball-sized hornet nest. Immediately, the hornets swarmed and stung him multiple times. The scouts and counselor shouted to alert the other people in the cove about the swarming hornets so they could dive under water.

But Patrick was still above water, stunned.

“I have been stung before,” Westphal said. “But getting stung multiple times was kind of terrifying.”

Everyone started shouting at Westphal to get under the water. When he didn’t respond, Adam Rieder pulled him off of his paddleboard.

Nehring and a few other scouts swam over to help. Marc Rieder started doing first-aid checks. Since his face was flushed and he was breathing heavily, the other scouts thought that he was having a reaction. Marc Rieder asked Westphal whether he was allergic and he said “yes.”

Two of them, Joseph Nehring and Timothy Sank, started towing Westphal to the dock. Marc Rieder and Birdsall swam ahead to alert the adults.

Once they reached the dock, a lifeguard pulled Westphal out of the water. Nehring jumped onto the dock to help him.

Joshua Palinkas and Adam Rieder went back to the cove to collect their gear from under the hornet nest.

Once they were out of the water, the adults checked to make sure everyone was OK. They decided to hold off on using an EpiPen on Westphal in case it wasn’t needed. His symptoms subsided after he calmed down.

Shawn Rieder was proud of the scouts’ actions. “They really put the training that they’d been receiving into action right away,” he said.

After the incident, the scout leaders decided to submit the scouts’ testimonies to the Baltimore Area Council so the boys could be nominated for awards. Although their application was approved in February, the group waited until May to receive their certificates so that Birdsall, who was attending the University of Florida, could be with them.

Even with the award, the boys don’t feel that what they did was special.

“We all just did what needed to be done at the time,” Marc Rieder said.